Film Opens Friday, March 27
Through visually stunning imagery, and in collaboration with leading space experts, Journey To Space showcases the exciting plans NASA and the space community are working on to take humans further into space than ever before...

Dive In to the Newest Giant Screen Adventure!
An extraordinary journey into the mysterious world of one of nature’s most awe-inspiring marine mammals, Humpback Whales takes audiences to Alaska, Hawaii and the Kingdom of Tonga for an immersive look at...

The giant IMAX adventure Hidden Universe takes audiences on an extraordinary journey deep into space. Through IMAX cinematography, the deepest reaches of our universe are brought to life with unprecedented clarity through stunning, high-resolution images...

Set sail on a breathtaking IMAX® adventure to the lush tropical islands of remote West Papua, where life flourishes above and below the sea. Join Jawi, a young island boy, as he leads a journey of discovery to this magical place. Home to more than 2,000...

Stand back: We're doing science! Don't Try This at Home is a series of new live shows that explore science that's too messy, too noisy and too hair-raising to do at home! You can experience up to three different shows throughout the day, one show...

Each month, a different local scientist, engineer or researcher will share their passion for what they do and provide information that will be useful in your classroom. We will focus on connecting the real science happening in San Diego with the Next...

The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center is excited to invite you to attend one of our popular sleepover events!
On Saturday, April 25, you can explore the Fleet Science Center after closing, and after a night of fun, you can fall asleep in the darkened...

Come to the Tinkering Studio on Saturdays to participate in hands-on activities that allow for minds of all ages to be creative and innovative in a variety of topics. From catapults to rockets, families are welcome to join in our Saturday tinkering with...

Join us for the Tinkerers’ Club on Saturdays in the Tinkering Studio! Dream it, create it, and take it home!
Tinkerers are invited to learn new skills and make awesome take-home projects! Open to tinkerers of all ages (tinkerers 12 and under require an...

Join us and scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and experience the excitement of scientific discovery. Get a close up view of some real mutant fruit flies. Learn about the strange-but-true things that can happen in the realm of...

Explore the BIG deal about SMALL science! Delve into the miniscule world of atoms, molecules and nanoscale forces. A range of exciting hands-on activities will demonstrate the special and unexpected properties found at the nanoscale.
Activities free...

Narrated by Academy Award®-Winner Robert Redford and Featuring Data and Simulations by NASA, Museum Astrophysicists and Scientists Around the World Spectacular Images of Planetary Impacts and Celestial Smash-Ups

December 14, 2012

1. LunarStill: In the violent aftermath of a collision four-and-a-half billion years ago between a young Earth and a Mars-sized wandering body, the remaining debris circling Earth quickly starts to coalesce into our Moon.

2. Canup: A young Earth moments after a collision with a Mars-sized wandering body four-and-a-half billion years ago

3. Soho: Streams of charged particles from the fiery surface of the Sun—the solar wind—race toward Earth at over a million miles an hour in this image taken by NASA satellites.

4. SunEarth: Graphic representation shows how most of the ionized particles from the solar wind are deflected off the protective cocoon of Earth’s magnetic field.

5. KT Impact: A dramatic re-creation of the meteorite impact that hastened the end of the Age of Dinosaurs 65 million years ago is a highlight of Cosmic Collisions.

6. Mitigation: A possible “doomsday” asteroid heads for a collision with Earth.

7. Stellar Collision: Two small stars smash together to form a larger rejuvenated star in the heart of a globular cluster on the edge of our Milky Way galaxy.

8. Galaxy Collision: Our Milky Way galaxy and its closest neighbor, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, swirl headlong into each other in an intergalactic collision predicted to occur billions of years in the future.

9. Asteroid3.27217: The asteroid thought to have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

10. CometEarth3.02905: A comet streaks past the sun towards earth.

11. AsteroidEarthCSC3b.22013: An asteroid passes earth.

12, EarthfallCSC3b.23529: Pieces raining down on earth from collision believed to have caused the creation of the moon.

PLEASE NOTE: These images are supplied free solely for one-time use by print, broadcast, and online media for publicity purposes related to Cosmic Collisions. No other use of these images is permitted without express written permission.

Space to English translations: Canup is the formation of the Moon; Soho is the name of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite that takes the great high resolution video and images of the Sun.

KT Impact refers to the event that may have eliminated the dinosaurs; also known as the K-T extinction event, it is associated with a geological signature known variously as the K–T boundary, the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary or the K–Pg boundary, usually a thin band of sedimentation visible wherever rocks of this age are exposed.

From subatomic particles to the largest galaxies, cosmic collisions are a universal force of nature. Creative and also destructive, dynamic and dazzling, collisions have resulted in many things we take for granted—the luminescent Moon, the Sun’s warmth and light, our changing seasons and waves washing up on a sandy shore. They’ve ended the age of dinosaurs and changed the very map of the cosmos, reforming galaxies and giving birth to new stars and new worlds. Cosmic Collisions provides an unprecedented and extraordinary view of these events—both catastrophic and constructive—that have shaped our world and our universe.

Cosmic Collisions launches visitors on a thrilling trip through space and time—well beyond the calm face of the night sky—to explore cosmic collisions, hypersonic impacts that drive the dynamic and continuing evolution of the universe. Groundbreaking scientific simulations and visualizations based on cutting-edge research developed by American Museum of Natural History astrophysicists, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other international colleagues explore the full range of space collisions, past, present and future.

Viewers will witness the violent face of our Sun, imaged by NASA satellites, that produces enormous ejections of material from our star toward our planet. The resulting subatomic clashes, as streams of charged particles from the Sun strike the Earth's magnetic field, produce the eerie glow of the aurora borealis and the aurora australis. Cosmic Collisions also shows the creation of our Moon some five billion years ago when a wandering planetoid struck Earth; the violent meeting of two stars at the edge of the galaxy; and the future collision of our Milky Way galaxy with our closest neighbor, the Andromeda spiral galaxy, a cosmic crash that will produce a new giant elliptical galaxy billions of years from now.

Audiences will feel the ground shake beneath them as they experience a thrilling recreation of the meteorite impact that hastened the end of the age of dinosaurs 65 million years ago and cleared the way for mammals like us to thrive. Another dramatic sequence highlights a frightening future scenario where humanity desperately attempts to divert the path of an oncoming "doomsday" asteroid headed on a collision course with Earth.

An engrossing, immersive digital theater experience created by the American Museum of Natural History visualization and production experts with the cooperation of NASA and more than 25 leading scientists from the United States and abroad, Cosmic Collisions launches visitors on an awe-inspiring trip through space and time. The show focuses on the full range of collisions, from catastrophic planetary impacts and the merging of massive galaxies to the continual explosions occurring in the center of the Sun and the incessant barrage of small ionized particles in the solar wind ricocheting off Earth’s magnetic field creating other-worldly conditions called “space weather.” Cosmic Collisions brings together the visionary genius of scientists and the insatiable curiosity of explorers to shed light on the universe’s most complex and mysterious processes. Take the journey into deep space to learn and be enriched by this unique experience!

Cosmic Collisions was developed by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in

collaboration with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science; GOTO, Inc., Tokyo, Japan; and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, China. Cosmic Collisions was created by the American Museum of Natural History with the major support and partnership of the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and was made possible with the generous support of CIT.

Cosmic Collisions was written by Stephanie Abrams, award-winning writer and director of

documentaries for PBS and USA Networks, and Emmy Award-winner Louise A. Gikow, with music by

If you would like complimentary tickets to see this or any IMAX film or digital show or visit the exhibitions, please contact Susan Chicoine directly at schicoine@rhfleet.org/619 685-5743/619 325-9416. Let me know what date and how many, and I will leave passes for you at the will call window.

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About the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (the Fleet) is home to Southern California's only Giant Dome Theater and 100+ hands-on science exhibits for all ages. Watch immersive giant-screen films in the Eugene Heikoff and Marilyn Jacobs Heikoff Giant Dome Theater, which reopened in 2012 after extensive renovations. Our theater is extraordinary in many ways. It is the world's first IMAX® Dome Theater, the world's first NanoSeam™ Dome screen in an IMAX theater, and it offers two unique experiences in one space: IMAX films and planetarium shows. The Heikoff Giant Dome Theater boasts a 76-foot tilted Dome screen and a 16,000-watt digital surround sound system, providing a stunning visual and audio experience. Experience eight galleries of fun, interactive exhibits, including major traveling exhibitions. A hurricane simulator thrills visitors with gusts of wind up to 80 miles per hour. Enjoy sandwiches, salads and healthy treats in Galileo's Café. Find unique educational toys and games, books, IMAX DVDs and more in the North Star Science Store. Located at 1875 El Prado, two blocks south of the San Diego Zoo on Park Blvd., the Fleet Science Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the public understanding and enjoyment of science and technology. For information regarding current admission prices, please call (619) 238-1233 or visit our website at www.rhfleet.org.